100 Thieves eliminate ENCE in Beijing

With a confident 2-0 win over ENCE, 100 Thieves have advanced to the semi-final of IEM Beijing, where they will take on Vitality.

Justin "⁠jks⁠" Savage's triple with the P250 ensured 100 Thieves a positive start on the T side of Inferno, their map pick, and with a successful fast-paced A push in an early rifle round, the Australian team was able to pick up a 6-0 lead. As Aleksi "⁠allu⁠" Jalli started finding picks with the AWP, two rounds went ENCE's way, but 100 Thieves didn't let go of the pressure. Just as things were starting to look dire for the Finns, they won a 4v5 by stacking mid and then narrowed the gap to 7-5.

Aleksandar "⁠kassad⁠" Trifunović's men didn't let the lead slip away, however, grabbing nine rounds before the half, extending that after the switch to the defense with another pistol round victory. 100 Thieves won the early economy game to grab a 13-7 lead and, after stopping an A rush from their opponents, closed out the map 16-9.

Doubles from Aaron "⁠AZR⁠" Ward and Sean "⁠Gratisfaction⁠" Kaiwai continued 100 Thieves' perfect pistol round record after which they looked comfortable dealing with ENCE's approached, being 6-0 up before jks had to roll up his sleeves and clutch a 1v1 against allu on the A bombsite to continue their round winning streak.

Only after nine rounds in a row going 100 Thieves' way did ENCE manage to secure one of their own as they got into B and Jani "⁠Aerial⁠" Jussila locked it in with a triple kill on the lurk. Jay "⁠Liazz⁠" Tregillgas and co. still looked good on the defense, going up 11-1, but allu managed to rally the troops before the end of the half, bringing it back to 11-4.

100 Thieves' attempt to wrap Heaven was shut down on the pistol, giving ENCE the first two rounds on the defense, but the Australians were strong with rifles, getting onto the lower site repeatedly (14-6). Just as the Finns were looking to build some momentum, Liazz clutched a 1v2 with 5HP to push his team to match point, which they swiftly converted on, 16-7.